Bad Things
by Pluv143000
Summary: All it took was one summer for Lucy's life to change. One summer for her family to fall apart. One summer for her to pull away from her friends. And one summer to lose her will to live. Until she met Theo. Theo found kinship in Lucy, something he never thought he'd find in a Northsider. He'd do anything for her. So, together they planned to get the hell out of Riverdale.
1. 00 - carry on

**"carry on my wayward son**

**there'll be peace when you are done**

**lay your weary head to rest**

**don't you cry no more"**

**\- Kansas, **_**Carry On My Wayward Son**_

* * *

Leading up to the day she cut and ran out of Riverdale like her life depended on it, Lucy Noble completely changed from the person she was. Once a vibrant addition to the halls of Riverdale High, greeting everyone with a soft smile and small wave, she was now just a hollow shell.

About two months before she ran away, she had a panic attack at school. It had started with her minding her own business as she walked down the hallway, books clutched tightly to her chest and head ducked down as if she were a turtle curling back into its shell. Trying her hardest to tune out the teenage drama surrounding her as she made her way to her next class, Lucy overheard Cheryl and Jason Blossom along with their cronies whispering about her.

"Yeah, her mom is still in that mental hospital," she heard one of the football players say to everyone.

"It's just a matter of time before Lucy and Betty start their residency, y'know with their family history of being _unstable_," Cheryl quipped, earning a few chuckles from the surrounding company.

It was one thing for Lucy to know that people talked about her, it was another to actually hear what they said. Especially since they were talking not just about her but Betty too. Betty was not just one of her best friends, but also her cousin. Being the same age, they had practically been attached at the hip throughout their lives. To hear the Blossom twins gossip about not only her but Betty too, was too much. Before everything that had happened, Lucy may have said something to them but now she could not bring herself to.

She sped down the hall until she found an empty classroom and hurried inside. Making sure to close the door behind her, Lucy collapsed to the floor, resting her forehead on her knees, her blonde hair fisted in her hands. She tried to take deep breaths and slow her heart rate but ended up crying, no sobbing, instead.

She was interrupted when the door started to open up behind her. It startled her enough to cease her tears and scoot away from the door. She did not know who to expect, maybe Betty or Jughead, even Archie coming to check on her since they had been close.

But, an unfamiliar face peaked their head around the corner. Lucy struggled at first to place a name to the face before the name _Theo_ came to mind. From what Lucy could recall, he was a junior and a popular one at that.

He bent down to look her in the eyes. "Hey, it's okay. Just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth," he coached but he could see she was still upset. He moved closer and grabbed her hand, placing it over his heart. "Try and match your heartbeat to mine."

After a few minutes, Theo released Lucy's hand and let it fall back to her side.

"Why are you here?" Lucy asked Theo cautiously. As far as she knew, he was just fishing for more information to give to the Blossoms so they could say more stuff about her and her family.

Theo sighed, "Look, Cheryl is a rich bitch while Jason and the rest are just as bad. I promise I'm not one of their cronies trying to get information to humiliate you more."

Lucy still did not trust him fully, so he continued. "I know about as much as everyone else what happened in your family. I wish I could say I understand and that it will all get better, but I can't guarantee that. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. But, even though we don't really know each other, I can't help but notice how you've completely shut down and I don't think you should go through this alone."

By this point, Lucy did not care what his intentions were. She was just so tired of being alone. She thought of her friends and how she should have felt comfortable going to them as none of their families were perfect by far. But, she could not help but feel some shame. Facing them was not an option for her. Now, there was some guy she did not even know offering to be there for her. While Theo looked a little rough around the edges, he came across as genuine.

Fed up with being lonely, Lucy threw her arms around Theo's neck and cried into his shoulder. He held her, a practical stranger, in an attempt to comfort the Noble girl. This was the start of an unbreakable friendship.

Over the next couple of months, the two grew closer. While Theo family was not imploding like Lucy's was, he did have his fair share of issues. His parents were divorced and seemed to be in a constant state of warfare. They brought each other to court for every little thing, especially his mom who was trying to get his dad's visitation revoked because she thought he was a bad influence. Not a bad influence for Theo, but for his younger siblings. Theo was seventeen, so in the midst of all the arguments, he was sort of forgotten about since he could take care of himself.

Theo hated how neurotic his mother came across. His dad was fine. Sure, he was a Serpent and did some less than desirable things, but nothing that the courts had any proof of. Roger Clark, also known as Dodger among the Serpents, cared about his kids. So much so that he spent a ridiculous amount on legal fees so that he could continue to see them which is also the reason why he resorted to less than legal tactics to earn money.

The two friends bonded over their messed up family situations and also learned that they had other things in common too. They hated the same things. They both hated the Blossoms and their family's reign over Riverdale. But, they also loved the same things too. They loved motorcycles; while Theo grew up around them since they were his dad's preferred method of transportation, Lucy had never gotten the chance to ride one though she always wanted to. The two also loved the beach; Theo had not been since he was a kid, but until about a year ago, Lucy's family made an annual trip to Venice, Florida to visit her grandmother. Lastly, both wayward teens loved the idea of getting the hell away from Riverdale.

The two sat on the bank of Sweetwater River one day when they skipped school. Theo was one of those kids who never cared much for rules or authority, so playing hooky was nothing new. Lucy, on the other hand, saw truancy as a way to stick it to her father. The blonde teen became rather rebellious after she started hanging out with Theo, her previous melancholic demeanor turning angry.

"Have you ever thought about just leaving this godforsaken town and never coming back," Theo said absentmindedly. Lucy laid on the ground, her head in his lap as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Lucy laughed and answered wistfully, "Yeah, and not just once either. More like once a week, if not more."

"Then why don't we do it. We can leave and just not come back," he did not realize what he was proposing to the blonde girl. The thought of leaving had always seemed like a far-off fantasy to him.

Lucy shot up from her reclined position and scrutinized him, "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," he replied with conviction.

She took a deep breath and looked away, "I don't know."

Theo reached out to wrap his hand around hers. He would never have thought that he would share such kinship with the Noble girl. If anyone had told him a few months ago that this girl would be his ride or die, he would have laughed in their face. She was far from the innocent, bookish girl she used to be. There was a certain maturity to her now. She was cynical and sarcastic but not in a way that turned him off. Now, she seemed more like a real person than the porcelain doll he once believed her to be. "Do you trust me?"

She smirked, looking up at him from under her long lashes, "I don't know. My mother once told me never to trust a man with two first names Theo Clark."

He retracted his hand from hers and stood up from the ground. After brushing the dirt and grass from his jeans, he held a hand out to her. Lucy knew that if she took his hand, it would be a nonverbal agreement to going through with this crazy, reckless idea. But, she wanted to. She wanted to be crazy and reckless for once in her life, to be happy after these last stressful months.

So, she took his hand and he helped her to her feet.

Later that night, Theo was at his dad's and waited for him to fall asleep before sneaking out to the back alley of the apartment building and uncovering his dad's motorcycle. Lucy was finally going to get to ride one. He pushed the motorcycle down the street before starting it up; making sure his dad would not hear it and wake up.

He pulled onto Lucy's street and turned the bike off, parking it a little further down the road. Finding the blonde girl's house, he located her window and, in true Romeo and Juliet fashion, threw some pebbles at her window. Minutes later, she shimmied down the tree outside her window, a small backpack on her back filled with cash, some food, a jacket, and a couple of Jolene's jewelry items that had already been moved into their house to pawn. Theo told her to pack light and they would get more, later.

The two rode off into the night. The wind whipping through Lucy's hair felt so freeing that any doubt or regret she may have been feeling faded away. They drove to the nearest bus station, buying two tickets on the next bus out of town and then they were gone.

It wasn't until July 7th that Lucy Noble and Theodore Clark were seen back in Riverdale. And not under good circumstances.

* * *

**Yay! I'm on an update spree! For once in my life...**

**I know it's like "Why is she making another story?!" But, I promise I already had this story started on another site and just wanted to move it to this one. Please follow, favorite, and review to let me know what you think!**


	2. 01 - roman holiday

"**feet first, don't fall**

**or we'll be running again**

**keep close, stand tall"**

**\- Halsey, **_**Roman Holiday**_

* * *

Lucy Noble and Theo Clark were back in Riverdale.

It was not through any want of their own, but out of need. Their "summer of freedom" started out great. They rode the motorcycle that Theo _borrowed_ from his father as far as it would take them before ditching it at a rest stop in a nearby town—something that Dodger Clark was sure to be furious about. From there, they took a bus farther out, wanting to put as much distance as possible between them and the 'Town of Pep'.

Lucy needed the time away and Theo was more than willing to help her get it. Riverdale had slowly been eroding at Lucy's will to live and nobody seemed to notice. No one, except the Clark boy. Marilyn Noble was hospitalized, Hank Noble absent, and everyone else did not care. But, Theo did and he would be damned if he let her follow in her mother's self-destructive footsteps.

From the moment they crossed the town line and began their summer adventure, the Noble girl had been exponentially happier. Freedom was a good look on her.

No longer was she bogged down by the stress of her deteriorating family or the cruel whispers of Riverdale's finest. Instead, she was able to be her authentic self. Her happiness reflected onto Theo. But, nothing lasts forever.

Two high school students were not exactly equipped to stay on the run for long. For one, there were missing persons bulletins posted for them, from parents desperately looking for their children. And two, they were not exactly rolling in cash.

Money was limited and life was expensive. They were runaways, but they did not want to be _homeless_ runaways. All the diner food and motel rooms added up as they moved town to town. The odd jobs they picked up here and there were not enough to sustain them. Any items that Lucy had taken from her father and his mistress-turned-girlfriend Jolene had already been pawned and the money gained from them long gone.

And that is what brought the duo back to the _lovely_ town of Riverdale.

Theo was vehemently against the idea. For Lucy, Riverdale meant misery and that was not what she needed right now. However, Lucy was adamant. The blonde girl was feeling particularly vengeful toward her father and Jolene when she came up with the plan. _They_ were the reason she needed to get away from the godforsaken town, so _they_ were going to fund her little vacation whether they wanted to or not.

Lucy was not exactly ecstatic about the idea of returning home, but she deemed it a necessary evil. _Sometimes you have to look back to move forward_, she thought.

They got off the bus in Greendale, choosing to walk the rest of the way into Riverdale. It was a long walk, but it gave them the chance to enjoy the scenery of Sweetwater River, unbeknownst to a certain Blossom's disappearance days before on the Fourth of July.

The closer they got to the Noble residence, the more the sun sunk below the horizon line. The streets were illuminated with the sunset's orange glow, shadows cast on the sidewalks and the sides of the quaint, suburban homes. By the time they got to the house, the sun's rays were gone, replaced with moonlight and the luminous street lamps.

There were no vehicles in the driveway—a good sign to the two teens who were about to break into the home. Quietly, they snuck around to the backyard where Lucy knew a spare key was stashed. The blonde remembered when her mother started hiding a key for her. She always forgot her house key when going out with her friends for milkshakes at Pop's which often resulted in her curling up on the porch, stranded until one of her parents got home and let her in. Finally, Marilyn Noble started to leave a hidden key for her daughter to use in times of need.

Theo trailed behind the blonde as she made her way to the back door. Lucy knelt down and pried a patio stone loose from the stiff, dry soil. Underneath, a gold house key was flush with the surrounding earth. She plucked the key from its place and stood to unlock the door. Little did they know, a silent alarm was triggered and neither knew to enter the required code.

"All right, so… what's the plan?" Theo whispered to the blonde beside him.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you whispering?" she asked at a normal volume. "Just because it's dark, doesn't mean you have to whisper." The blonde gave him a teasing smile, causing the Clark boy to roll his eyes.

"Fine. What's the plan?" he repeated, this time not bothering to whisper.

"You go ahead and grab as much food as possible. Non-perishables, of course," Lucy started. "I'm going to go upstairs and see what we can pawn off."

"Sounds good. Meet back here in fifteen minutes. We shouldn't stay long."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. Who knows when my dad and Jo will show back up." With that, the two separated; Theo to raid the pantry and Lucy to scavenge through her father's belongings.

When the blonde entered the master bedroom, she could feel the heat rush to her cheeks as anger flooded her body. Every reminder that her mother had lived there was gone. Her slippers were gone from the side of the bed. Her nude pink lipstick replaced with a deep red on the vanity. Hell, even the room was scented with Chanel perfume instead of Marilyn's signature Marc Jacobs.

Fueled by her anger, Lucy ravaged the drawers. She snagged a pair of ivory cuff links in her father's dresser. She recognized them; a gift from her mother from Christmas last year. The Noble patriarch did not deserve them. He had probably—most likely—been cheating on her then. Lying asshole.

Next, Lucy went for Jolene's jewelry. The emerald tennis bracelet jumped out to her. Lucy's mother had a matching one, instead adorned with aquamarine gemstones. The blonde teen remembered when her mother and Jolene got them. They were a more 'adult' version of classic friendship bracelets that they got after twenty years of friendship. Lucy practically seethed when she was it. Jolene did not deserve such a token of friendship. She lost that right when she slept with her best friend's husband.

The last thing the Noble girl snagged before she left was a newer-looking pair of diamond earrings. _I wonder if they were a gift from dear ole dad_, Lucy thought. A symbol of what horrible people they both were.

After putting the items in her backpack, Lucy glanced around the room one last time. On a whim, she snatched the ruby red lipstick from atop the vanity and wrote 'HOMEWRECKER' in bold letters on the mirror. Thoroughly satisfied, Lucy left the room and stopped by her own briefly.

She noticed the nights could get chilly out on the road despite the sweltering summer air during the day. She had hardly packed appropriately the last time she had been in her bedroom. She quickly grabbed a jacket and went to meet Theo in the kitchen.

"Ready?" Theo asked her as he met her at the base of the staircase, his backpack bursting at the seams with his food haul.

"Yeah. Let's get the hell out of here."

They moved quickly under the cover of night. The father they got from the house, the more Lucy's fury dissipated. They walked briskly though the streets, careful not to draw too much attention to themselves.

The two runaways were almost back to Sweetwater River, only a forest standing between them and the Greendale bus station where their freedom awaited, when they noticed the flashing lights.

Red and blue lights appeared down the street from them, seemingly circling the neighborhood. Lucy watched as one car headed in the direction of the Noble residence. "Shit," she whispered, pulling Theo into someone's backyard.

It had only been a couple minutes since they left the house. Police were not usually so quick to respond in Riverdale, unless…

Lucy groaned as the thought struck her. "What?" Theo asked. "What's wrong?"

"They got a security system," Lucy explained. "Must've gotten it after we took off since I snagged some of Jo's things. Dammit." Theo, too, cursed under his breath at the information.

They stayed hunkered down behind the house for a little while longer before Theo spoke up, "We're going to have to make a run for the woods or they'll find us eventually."

"Okay," Lucy agreed. The two waited from the police lights to disappear behind a row of houses before they made their move. Theo, with Lucy's hand in his own, darted across the street, pulling the blonde with him. They were almost free, the tree line within reach.

A dog started barking. A big dog from the sound of it, with a loud bark that echoed through the neighborhood. Lucy winced as she heard the deep bass of the animal resonated in her ears. It was an alarm for the police, leading the Sheriff's deputies right to the runaway teens.

"Keep going," Theo said, encouraging her to run faster. Her legs burned under the strain of her quickened movements. She could _not_ be caught. The consequences of their actions were staring the duo right in the face. The danger of being caught increased the adrenaline in their veins. "Don't stop running until we cross the town line."

By now, Lucy could not tell if she was still hearing the dog barking or if the loud noise thumping in her ears was the sound of her own heartbeat. She did not speak. She did not answer Theo's remarks, afraid to waste a single breath.

The approaching police sirens replaced the thumping in her ears. _Shit, shit, shit_, was the only thing running through Lucy's mind. Her legs moved so quickly that she could barely feel them, the jolt of her feet hitting the pavement being the only indicator that she was even touching the ground. The tree line was only a few feet away now. One more road to cross.

Suddenly, a police car pulled out in front of them. Theo reached out, an arm braced across the blonde's torso. It was the only thing that kept her from running into the vehicle at full force. Her converse skid on the pavement, surely wearing away what was left of the tread. Theo pulled her to the right, attempting to maneuver around the officers coming after them.

Their attempt was futile, another patrol car blocking their exit yet again. The two came to a stop, but their hearts continued to race. Sweat beaded on Lucy's forehead, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She could not even bring herself to glance over to her partner-in-crime.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Her eyes darted around like a caged animal looking for any means to escape. Desperate thoughts ran through her mind. This was it. They were caught. Her summer of freedom was over.

A small, rational part of her knew that her summer escapades should be the least of her worries as officers surrounded her with their hands hovering over their firearms, but she could not help but mourn what could have been.

Lucy recognized Sheriff Keller in the group. "Lay down on the ground and place you hands on you head!" the Sheriff ordered. The two hesitated, shock taking over and not allowing their bodies to follow Keller's direction. "Now!" the Sheriff yelled, finally jarring them into compliance.

The Noble girl lowered herself to the ground as the Clark boy did the same from beside her. Face down on the ground with her hands resting on the back of her head, she waited for a deputy to cuff her. The cold metal of the handcuffs clamped around her wrists. With the help of an officer, she was pulled to her feet and brought face to face with the Sheriff himself.

"Lucy?" he questioned, surprised to see his son's friend standing before him. Obviously, the blonde girl was the last person he expected to see that night. Although, recalling the address of the break-in call, he supposed he should not be all that shocked. Sheriff Keller glanced in Theo's direction briefly, the two teen's noticing the movement.

When Lucy Noble and Theo Clark went missing, many in the Sheriff's office, including himself, believed they had run away together. However, Hank Noble insisted it was a coincidence and swore up and down that his darling Lucy would not associate herself with a kid so deeply connected to the Southside. Keller could not help but feel slightly smug that his initial hunch had been correct. Anything that he could have over a prick like Hank, he would take.

Leading the Noble girl to the patrol car, Sheriff Keller muttered under his breath to the girl, "Welcome back to Riverdale."

Lucy's breath caught in her throat as she held in a sob at the words. This was the last place in the world she wanted to be and she had no one to blame but herself. Theo never wanted to come back, at least not so soon. The two always knew they would have to come back eventually, but they planned on it being much later. It was all Lucy's fault. The chip on her shoulder and the want to spite her father and Jolene at every turn overruled any logical decision-making.

She felt the Sheriff's hand on her head as her guided her into the backseat of the patrol car while making sure she did not hit her head or lose her balance. Just before she disappeared inside, she caught Theo's gaze.

_I'm sorry_, he mouthed to her, looking completely heartbroken that they ended up in this situation.

_It's okay_, she mouthed back, eyes glistening with unshed tears. It was her fault. Theo had nothing to be sorry for because it was her fault.

She closed her eyes and smacked her head on the headrest. _I will not cry. I will not cry_, she repeated to herself.

That night of July seventh, two runaway teens returned to Riverdale. A few days later, when Lucy and Theo were returned to their homes, whether they liked it or not, another missing Riverdale teen was not so lucky. For on July eleventh, Jason Blossom's fate was sealed and weeks later, when he would be discovered on the banks of the scenic Sweetwater River, he would not be found alive and well.


End file.
